The Eraserhood is on the verge of losing another building. HiddenCity Philadelphia The Church of Assumption on Spring Garden and 12th is scheduled for demolition. Embroiled in a battle to keep the integrity of the neighborhood, community leaders are fighting the owner to keep the building.

According to a recent Newsworks article “Siloam representatives previously argued that the building was structurally unsound and just too expensive to repurpose…’Mr. Wei bought the building knowing full well that it was pending appeal. He bought it knowing that there [were] issues with the property,” Stretton said. “So he himself has no hardship.’
The matter now goes back to another city board, Licenses & Inspections, for a final decision. Even though Stretton is still litigating in the courts, demolition could still go ahead with the review board’s OK.”

Christopher Mote and HiddenCity Philadelphia had an update on the appeal to keep Church of the Assumption standing, reports that nothing has been fully resolved, though the building is still in real danger (read the full updated report here).

The Eraserhood nominates one Sunday every month as a day to help the neighborhood in a big way, clean it up. This Sunday March 10, 2013 at three o’clock in the afternoon Eraserhood invites you to walk out your front door, meet your neighbors, and pick up some trash on your street. Bring your trash bags and positive neighborhood energy and spend a few minutes beautifying where we live. The best part? Bag up your gathered trash and leave it on the curb for garbage pickup Monday morning.

The corner of Ninth and Green Streets once housed an active Philadelphia Reading Railroad station. Built in 1832, for more than fifty years this hub carried early suburban commuters from Germantown into the business core of Philadelphia. At the time this railroad station was erected commuter trains were still hauled by horses. In November of 1832 the very first steam train ever operated in Philadelphia covered the six miles between the Germantown and Green Street stations in twenty-eight minutes. By 1889 commuters abandoned the Green Street station in favor of the newly constructed Reading Terminal Station on Market Street. Over the years, this historic Philadelphia landmark has been left to ruin, isn’t there a place in Philly history for more than colonial era relics?